Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

tinselly

American  
[tin-suh-lee] / ˈtɪn sə li /

adjective

  1. decorated with or abounding in tinsel.

  2. cheap and gaudy.


Etymology

Origin of tinselly

First recorded in 1805–15; tinsel + -y 1


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

It’s a magpie movie that’s happy to give audiences the tinselly things they want — i.e., two robots clobbering the Wi-Fi out of each other.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2025

“Upstairs” meant the museum’s fourth and fifth floors, where “Queer Maximalism x Machine Dazzle,” on view through Feb. 19, is currently offering perhaps the city’s most glittery, tinselly, witty display of bling this holiday season.

From New York Times ● Dec. 28, 2022

They were a bit cringeworthy, I thought, but I wanted a tinselly, childlike vibe for an evening house party.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 29, 2022

A tiny Norfolk spruce sits in a pot on the windowsill, oppressed with some outsize tinselly stars.

From The Guardian ● Apr. 10, 2010

Unfortunately marauders do not strip beautiful interiors of the tinselly gew-gaws that so often deface them; in this respect, however, St. Aspais being comparatively an exception.

From East of Paris Sketches in the Gâtinais, Bourbonnais, and Champagne by Matilda Betham-Edwards

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Look it up. Learn it forever.

Remember new words for good with VocabTrainer. Expand your vocabulary effortlessly with personalized learning tools that adapt to your goals.

Take me to Vocabulary.com